Just starting again today....

So I've been horrible at blogging which is not necessarily a bad thing because I simply haven't had time to. When I do go to blog I think of all the things that I have done since my last post and then I think....should I go back to those events? So today I decided to just start where I am right now...today!

Today I was at church for our Annual Church Workday. I never mind going because I get my kids' supplies organized and ready for another season. This year was by FAR the best that the supply room has ever stayed. I've been much better at putting my kids' church stuff away after every Sunday and the teachers of the younger classes have been much better about not just "dumping" things on the ground. It was nice to get things tended to.

My sister, Courtney, was a huge help and emptied all of the cabinets in the classrooms and reorganized it all. Debbie, our associate pastors wife, worked in one of the rooms and they traded stuff back and forth and made sure all the rooms had adequate crafts, snacks, and supplies. I honestly can't say what I'd do without Courtney helping me organize things. She is gifted in organizing. I hate taking everything out and putting it on a table. It's overwhelming to look at it all. Cover your eyes for a minute crafters - I do NOT enjoy crafting! Yes, I know it's one of those things that I think is supposed to come natural for someone who works with kids. I don't mind if it comes in a nice little bag from Oriental Trading Company :-) but just looking at a pile of junk and coming up with an amazing craft like some of you is not my thing. Anyways, Courtney worked hard organizing the crafts and cabinets. Thanks Sis.

THEN I went into the dreaded prop room! It's much better than it used to be, but every year after Christmas it is a task to organize all the props and costumes. I have worked on the items that I personally used in the past, but today I dove into the depths/underbelly of the beast and pulled stuff out from the '70's. Not kidding! Yeah, angel costumes where golden instead of white after that long in a box. It sounds worse than it really was because these items were for the most part neatly shoved under shelves in boxes. That is why it took me TEN YEARS to actually pull then out. For many years, I have acted like I simply didn't want to throw away someone else's things, but today it hit me that no one else EVER goes in that room except me :-) and it was time to toss stuff. Other people do actually go in the room but not for the props or costumes. It sure felt good to get things purged.

So let me ask you a question....if you had a box with 40 pairs of sandels in the prop room what would you do? Most people have their own sandels that they would prefer to wear in a play. Right? And then the question poses itself "When was the last time that we had a play that needed 40 pairs of sandels?" Not in the 10 years that I've been hear. BUT someone went to a lot of work finding all those sandels and then what happens next year when we decide to do a play that involved 40 people wearing sandels? What then? So to keep the sandels or not keep the sandels is the question..........

Oh and I won't even ask about the 150 shepherd costumes hanging up! Were there even a 150 shepherds in the whole town of Bethlehem on the night Jesus was born? Have we ever had more that 5 shepherds in any Christmas play throughout America? Oh, I said I wasn't going there. :-) But I simply can't seem to part with the costumes.

Okay, so I've posted. Not that it has any relevance to anyone's life out there in cyberspace. But still, I blogged. :-)

A fun night about aprons

Yes, I agree. Lord, help me to teach our children and youth these truths!

1. Worship Creates Hunger “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Psalm 42:1-2).

When is the last time you heard a teen say, “When can I go and meet with God?” When you hear that phrase you know you’ve met a worshiper. Entering the Lord’s presence through worship creates satisfaction and hunger simultaneously.

2. Raise Your Praise. “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!” (Psalm 47:1).

In the blank provided write the name of the last professional football event that you attended that was quiet: __________________________. Is the blank still blank? Do you know why? Because the people in the stands are worshipping what’s happening on the field (at least one group of fans). When God is active in our field of life we respond with praise.

3. Let God Find You. “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks” (John 4:23).

God is looking for us. He is seeking us. Will He find us? If we had a special pair of glasses that revealed true worshipers, how many people would be in the pews Sunday morning? How many would God find?

Zone Members: Read the complete article of "10 Tips for Teaching Teens to Worship"

Your Partners in Ministry,

Paul & Al

Some thoughts....

I was going through my 2008 day planner and thought I'd take a minute to write down a few things that I wrote down last year and want to take with me into 2009.

These are random thoughts from me personally and also out of various books, sermons, and conferences.

*Do you have the COURAGE to walk through a season of disfavor, knowing that it will lead to a greater manifestation of God's favor in your life? (Mary had favor with God, but not with man!)

*I want to be more patient, present, and imaginative with the kids!

*Destress, destress, destress.....NO yelling!

*Read more books to the kids. Play one board game a day.

*Childhood Matters: Everything we do deposits something into our children! Our words, our actions, and our tone of voice.

* Invite wisdom....even if difficult.

*Faith - without it it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God!

*We create our world with our words.

*Jeremiah 29:11 - God has a plan for our lives Psalm 139 - I am fearfully and wonderfully made If we can get these two things verses into our children's spirits they will know that God has made them special and has a marvelous plan for their lives.

* Every time you touch a child out of kindness you impart a blessing - Touch heals.

* The Five Love Languages of Kids - Read it!

These are all things that I worked on last year and am trying to work on again this year. I have more that I'll post later. I think this is enough to ponder on. :-)

A good life!

Yesterday was a great day! I have been trying really hard to keep up on my schedule, housework, school, church, and life in general. I've been reading a lot of great books lately on marriage, parenting, ministry, etc. and they are a great reminder of what the important things in life are. A few that I'd recommend highly are:

Raising Godly Tomatoes by L. Elizabeth Krueger
It is mostly for parents of younger children. It talks about how important it is to keep young children by you while you train them in the ways of the Lord. There is a lot of great tools in this book. www.raisinggodlytomatoes.com

Help Mate by Debbie Pearl
Wow, what a powerful message to women about how to be a godly wife! All I can say is READ IT. :-)

My crazy imperfect Christian family: living out your faith with those who know you best by Glenn Stanton
I've really enjoyed this book. It covers a broad range of topics from forgiveness, raising godly kids, getting along with your spouse even in the rough times, and more. Glenn works for focus on the family and is very candid about his families imperfections but also about the hope that comes through Jesus to raise our kids up in a solid Christian home.

Just a few of the books that I'm reading and enjoying right now.

Kids Routines from flylady.net

Since I wrote about MY routine that I really enjoy based off of flylady.net, I thought I'd share some of their kids' routines.

They actually have a new section for kids called Riley's Challenge. Each day it has one little task for the kids to do which usually takes about 5 minutes. (Put away crayons, organize books, straighten sock drawer, etc.)

They also have a Student Journal that helps teens start to get their lives organized. It has a morning and evening routine plus a daily cleaning schedule for their bedroom. I printed it off for my sisters and thought I'd share it really quick.

Monday - Your Bed: Straighten your bed. Clean your nightstand. Get rid of all trash in bedroom.

Tuesday - Your Closet: Hang up all clothes. Put all dirty clothes in hamper/put away all clean clothes. (Do laundry if that is part of household responsibilities)

Wednesday - Your Floor: Pick up all the clothes and trash up off of the floor. Vacuum - without being told to!

Thursday - Your Desk: Throw away all of the trash and junk papers on your desk. Put important papers in drawers. Take all dishes to the kitchen. Clean out all desk drawers that last Thursday of each month.

Friday - Your Bathroom: Once a week, clean the shower while you are in there. Throw away old bottles of stuff and old razers you don't use. Wipe down the sink, toilet, and then floor with your wet towel. Empty laundry basket.

Without even realizing it, your kids will have a clean room every day! No more spending hours on a Saturday. Just 5-10 minutes per day.

Daily Routine

To my blogging followers (my mom), sorry that I've been absent. I can't promise it will get much better. I've found that I really enjoy looking at other peoples' blogs more than I enjoy typing on my own. But it does seem like one of that give and take relationships in the blogging world where I would be selfish to only take from others and never give anything, so here's my gift to the world. :-)

In the middle of last year I found Flylady.net and it has been a great tool for me! I really love it. It breaks your house down into different zones to work on each week. It also encourages you to do certain daily tasks to help keep life more organized. During the holidays I slipped a bit on my daily routine, but I've been trying VERY hard to maintain it so that my house stays pretty decent at all times.

Here's my AM routine (except Tuesdays, Fridays, and Sundays):
-Brush teeth, go potty, weigh (too detailed?)
-Make hair and face look somewhat presentable if someone drops by or the I see a neighbor, but I do stay in sweats or PJ's when I'm at home because I dress up for church and work.
-Swish and Swipe the bathroom....clean the toilet and wipe down the counter after putting everything away. This has been a new one in 2009. I didn't do it last year, but have been trying to keep up with it every day this year.
- Start 1 load of laundry. This is also new for 2009. Last year I saved all my laundry and did it all on Thursdays, but I thought I'd give it a try and I've actually liked it. Somedays I just do my one load and other days I just work on it all day and get it done for the week. Thursdays are still my "have to have it done" day though.
- Get the kids' breakfast.
- Put away dishes that I washed the night before while the kids eat breakfast.
- Lay out dinner for that night.
- Take vitamins and get a glass of water.

PM Routine -
- Pick up entry way.
- Wash the dishes and clean the counters. (I hardly use my dishwasher anymore now that I do this.)
- Clean desk area while shutting down computer for the night.
- Do a quick runthrough of the house and pick random things up.
- Brush teeth, floss (I try to remember!), and wash face or take shower
- Kiss Josh (He always stays up later than me!) Night owls.....
- Read my Bible (I love my Daily Bible that has Old, New, Psalms, Proverbs)
- Write in my journal
- Lights out by 11 PM on weekdays; 12 AM on weekends

Kids Chores -
I've started having the kids do some specific chores every day before we start school just so they get used to the routine of it. It's been working very well. They both put their shoes away that are in the entry way, make their beds, tidy their rooms, and then Javon takes the recycle out while Reagan puts the silverware away. They usually make a race out of it and it only takes like 15 minutes.

My mom has always been great about keeping everything picked up! I never remember our house being messy as a kid. I wish my kids could say that! :-) But I'm really working on it!!! I want to be organized and clutter free. I've been letting go of things and learning to keep on top of this routine so that things stay within my control. It all about self-discipline. Yeah, I'd rather not do the dishes before bed, but then I wake up and feel yucky seeing them in the morning. So that's what I've been working on in 2009!

Happy New Year!

A smile sits on my face and I'm not quite sure why except that with the stroke of the clock comes a fresh sense of DAY 1.... I am not in New York City or even surrounded by friends or most of my family, but I am completely aware that my FATHER loves me and has a plan for my life, Josh's life, and my kids' lives.

There are small fireworks displays going off throughout my neighborhood; reminders that most of us don't have a lot of financial wealth but we do have more than so many others around the world. Our home may not be show quality or our cars built in the last decade, but what we do have is more than enough.

I don't have my husband to kiss tonight, but I know that he is right were he should be....praying with and having fun with our church kids. My kids aren't awake to "ring in the new year" with me, but they are cuddled up in blankets laying at my feet. That's pretty special if you ask me.

There was no party to attend and no reason to even take a shower for that matter today, however, I accomplished a lot around the house and with the kids in school and that's more rewarding than getting all dolled up to have a night on the town. Not that I even know what that is considering I've only stayed up past 1 AM a handful of times in my life. :-)

I have $12 in my checking account but my bills are paid and I the promise of another check coming this Friday; but if it didn't come I know that my heavenly Father would take care of me. There have been times that I have stressed about money, but I've come to the realization that having little or much doesn't change your worth.

There hasn't been anything "BIG" that has happened in 2008 per say. No babies or buying a home or finding out that someone you love has a disease you have no idea how to manage....no ministry changes, no death or lose, no great victories to speak of.....but what I can say is that my babies are healthy and growing up every day and that at least I have a home when so many are losing theirs and that my husband has felt better than he has in 5 years and I feel like I have the man I married back again after an absence due to fear and side effects of medication. I can say that although our church hasn't grown by much, I know that there are little boys and girls that will always remember that I took time to care for them and teach them about Jesus. Hopefully someday they'll do the same for others. I can say that there are teenagers who know Josh believes in them when most other people don't. I can say that I have sisters who I love and I believe are realizing God's will for their lives although they may not say it to others. I have a mom and dad that support me and love me and are always there for me. I have friends that God has put in my life that "stick closer that a brother".

Is everything perfect? No, nothing ever is, but that doesn't mean it's not good. I have yelled at my children this year when they didn't listen for the 10th time. I have been frustrated and treated my husband poorly when I shouldn't have. I haven't told my sisters enough that I love them and can't imagine how boring life would have been without them. I haven't spend quality time EVERY day with my Savior and Lord...the One who died to take away all my wrongs and offer my eternal life. But for all the wrongs and all the mishaps, there is one promise - tomorrow will come - tomorrow is here. 2009 will be what I make it! Whether the economy is good or bad, gas prices rise or fall, or God forbid a tragity comes across my path, I will say, "That whatsoever state I am in I (am learning) to be content."

Hug those you love tighter today, smile wider, teach more passionately, share more openly, love deeper, pray longer, sing louder, dream bigger, speak softer, cherish everything....may God bless us all as we seek and serve Him in 2009!

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The Christmas County Spelling Bee

Wow, I have sooooo much to catch up on! This month has just flown by! Here's a few pics from the Christmas program that I directed and the kids did on Dec. 13 & 14. We started practice in September and the kids put so much time and effort into it. If you've ever been a part of a kids' Christmas program you know the immense amount of time and patience that goes into it, but it's all worth it when you see the kids share their talents with their family and friends! I won't use the kids' names because I don't have their parents' permission but I was SOOOOOO proud of them. We had 3 year olds through 6th grade in the choir and then I got to use the Jr. Highers as the actors which is always fun because all of them have been my "kids" in the plays over the years. 

Javon and Reagan both did solos and I was very proud of them. Reagan LOVES to sing, but I wasn't sure if she'd actually do it when she saw all the people. Her and one of her little friends did a fabulous job singing! I was very proud of them.  

It's hard to explain how you can be so proud of kids that aren't your own, but I was just of proud of all the other kids that I knew had worked so hard to make this possible. They gave their all and the show went off great! Although we did have snow in Seattle on Sunday morning of the performance, a lot of people still came out to see the program. That was just the beginning of our SNOWY days in  Seattle. It is a winter wonderland right now. We've been in CA with my grandparents and traveled through lots and lots and lots of snow. We are happy to be home now and spend a pretty quite Christmas with family. 

Lots of love to all my friends! You make my life full......

Life Rules

A fellow blogging mom (urbanfunnyfarm.blogspot.com) had these LIFE RULES on her blog and I loved them. They were written by George Washington Carver for his classroom of students who he treated as his own children and wanted to build their character as well as their intellect. Thanks for sharing Charissa!

1.  Be clean both inside and out.

2. Neither look up to the rich or down on the poor.
3. Lose, if need be, without squealing.
4. Win without bragging.
5. Always be considerate of women, children, and older people.
6. Be too brave to lie.
7. Be too generous to cheat.
8. Take your share of the world and let others take theirs.

We're decorated for Christmas!

Hoping you and your families have a wonderful and blessed Christmas season celebrating Jesus!